"...Phew, that startled me."
Fortunately, the one standing there was Varen properly dressed in human clothes. He approached, long blond hair down to his waist rippling.
"You told me to talk to this child. A dragon’s language can’t be heard by humans."
"Yeah, good job. I was just startled thinking you might be naked again."
"Why is it a problem if I’m naked."
"What do you mean, why. Are you going to dangle everything in front of a young girl?"
"Does that mean it’s fine in front of you?"
"Of course it’s not fine in front of me either!"
A conversation no different from usual carried on naturally.
But Kallen, thrown by the situation, edged backward. In the blink of an eye the dragon had vanished and a huge human was standing there; being startled was reasonable.
"C-Ceryl... this person is..."
"Say hello. He’s the dragon who was locked in the underground."
Kallen craned her head back as far as it would go to look up at Varen, who had come close.
A girl barely one-sixty tall and Varen a little over two meters simply stared at each other.
"Uh... um, well..."
Apparently human form was harder for her to handle than when he was a dragon; Kallen only opened and closed her mouth, unable to string words together.
Unable to wait, Varen spoke first.
"I won’t kill you."
Varen lifted the tip of his chin and looked at me. Then he subtly pushed his chest out.
"I thought about it one more time."
What was that confident stance supposed to be. I stared, dumbfounded at the meaning I couldn’t parse.
And Kallen, who had received the dragon’s mercy, bowed her head.
"Th... thank you."
"There’s no need to be thankful. I killed your friend."
His voice had no rise or fall, and his expression didn’t change. Kallen alone had sorrow in her eyes at the subject that burst forth.
"I can’t forgive you, but I can understand."
At the words that followed, I let out a short, dry laugh.
Those were the words I’d said behind the cabin. I’d thought the distance was far, but dragons must have exceptional hearing.
Varen gazed at me, not his conversation partner.
"If someone killed my precious one, I too wouldn’t be able to forgive."
"..."
"I’d burn the whole world."
It wasn’t something to laugh off. In fact, when Varen thought I had disappeared, he burned the entire Facility.
Given the environment Varen had been trapped in, it was natural he’d form an attachment to me.
Only, his separation anxiety from his guardian was severe. More than anything, that impulsive arson needed to be corrected.
"Calm down, I’m not going to die so easily. And even if I do die, don’t burn the whole world."
"No. I will burn it. Not a single blade of grass left."
"...Ugh, suit yourself."
Correcting Varen’s behavior looked like it would take time.
Kallen widened her eyes and looked back and forth between me and Varen. Then, in a dazed voice, she asked:
"Is the dragon’s ‘precious one’ you, Ceryl?"
Hearing that sentence out of someone else’s mouth for some reason felt embarrassing.
Kallen had only heard that I’d saved the dragon in the underground. She didn’t know how we’d formed rapport, so she could misunderstand.
I could neither affirm nor deny. I only scratched my head awkwardly, and Kallen let out a hollow laugh.
"A human can be precious... to a dragon."
The back of her orange head sagged even more. The complicated look in her eyes seemed to long for her own precious ones lost to the dragon.
Her pitiful appearance made my hand reach out on its own.
"What are you doing?"
It was Varen who blocked me. He grabbed the hand I was extending toward Kallen, roughly.
Not only that, he yanked with strength. A flimsy human body fluttered and settled into a dragon’s arms.
Two arms hard as stone twined around me like iron chains. In a pose like a back hug, one hand squeezed my shoulder, the other my waist.
"Kh, you brat... what do you think you’re doing?"
"Why are you trying to lay hands on a human. Don’t touch."
Confirmed. A dog is better than a dragon.
At least Berry only made a scene when I tried to pet another dog; Varen’s jealousy spared neither humans nor monsters.
And Berry could be controlled with strength.
I lifted my head, looked at Varen, and fell into brief thought.
This bastard... should I put a leash on him...
"Ceryl, maybe..."
What broke my train of thought was Kallen’s voice. Ominously, the eyes of a teenage girl were full of curiosity.
"Is he the one from the love letter?"
"...What letter?"
"The one who’s cute and rude... Oh my."
Kallen arrived at a conclusion on her own and clapped both hands over her mouth. She took a step back, then looked between me and Varen.
"As expected, love... knows no borders."
"It’s not like that."
"Species or gender... don’t matter."
"Why would that not matter."
"Love... blooms even in the middle of war..."
I’m going to lose it.
Being stuck between people who wouldn’t listen drained me.
Then, from behind me came a low growl.
"You, too, called Ceryl a precious person."
Words that had moved me must have been a line of vigilance to Varen.
I patted the arms squeezing my body any old way.
"Calm down. I’m her boss; I promote her, pay her—"
"I think of Ceryl as more precious."
"..."
"I think of Ceryl much more, and as more precious."
"...Ugh, that gave me goosebumps."
For the first time in my life I felt goosebumps in my cochlea. I stuck a finger in my ear and rubbed randomly, and my head hummed.
I reached a hand back and, instead of a leash, yanked him by the hair.
"If you think I’m precious, then listen when I speak. How many times do I have to tell you to let go?"
I managed to press down my irritation and spoke rationally. Only then did Varen release the arms that had been squeezing me tight.
It was a pathetic sight, not even the authority of an adult. Even so, Kallen gave a faint smile and nodded.
"The dragon and I have a lot in common. We can’t forgive each other, but we can understand. And that Ceryl is precious to us both."
With those plain words, Varen and Kallen looked at each other. In those pure eyes, joy and sorrow, anger and understanding—all those unalloyed emotions showed.
The young dragon and the human girl I’d thought were polar opposites, it turned out, had many points in common.
"I’ll go first. I need to find herbs to treat the burn scars."
Kallen turned her body with a light face and ran toward Ella, who was some distance away.
For a little thing, she was fast. I shouted at the back of Kallen’s head, quickly receding from view.
"Kallen, don’t go too far! It’s dangerous if you leave here!"
"Okay! Have a good time!"
A damn “good time,” freezing hell.
Even so, I let out a sigh of relief that things had at least reached a stopping point.
Kallen didn’t rush in vowing revenge, and Varen didn’t kill in the name of vengeance.
They didn’t communicate with me, but like beings with intelligence they resolved it by talking. In any case, it was praiseworthy.
"I didn’t kill, and I didn’t set anything on fire."
Varen came to a halt beside me and spoke. When I looked up, his face was puffed with expectation.
What on earth did he want. Was I supposed to pat his butt and say good job.
If it were a dragon’s plump rump, I’d be all for it, but I didn’t want ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to touch an adult man’s rear.
Still, his mental age had shot up overnight enough to deserve praise, so I reached out and tapped his head twice.
"Yeah. Good job."
I meant to stop after a couple of pats, but Varen bent his neck and pushed his crown forward.
"What are you doing. Showing off your hair?"
I pushed away his insistent pressing with my palm. Pretending not to notice the disgruntled look in his eyes, I stretched.
With the biggest assignment finished, my insides felt clear.
"But where did the elder go? I haven’t seen him for a while."
Varen looked around. His quieted gaze seemed to gleam, then his face turned quite serious.
"He’ll be busy. The forest’s energy isn’t good."
"I heard it too. They said it’s full of killing intent."
"Killing intent?"
At his expression of knowing nothing, I could only laugh. The killing intent filling the forest was targeting just one person, and the very subject looked serene.
"Your mana’s fully recovered, right?"
"Yes. It’s enough."
"Then let’s depart tonight."
The sun was still high. We couldn’t roam a forest crawling with Dragon Hunters in broad daylight.
"Ugh, then I’ll grab a nap. I’m tired after staying up the night."
More than anything, my body felt like lead after an all-nighter.
The moment we left this safe zone, I could foresee a hell of hardship. So I had to sleep while I could.
Just in time, Kallen had gotten up and the bed in the cabin was free. I was about to head inside to ask the day for a nap.
"Where are you going."
Varen grabbed my wrist. The dragon didn’t put great strength into it, but fragile human bones ached.
I scrunched my face and glared, but Varen stared back with an unyielding gaze.
"Let go. It hurts."
"Ceryl, you made a promise to me. Why aren’t you keeping—"
"You bastard, I said it hurts!"
In the end I gathered every irritation I had and didn’t have and shouted.
Part of me wanted to smack his hard skull once, but if I did my remaining hand would shatter too, so I held back.
Still, maybe the leonine bellow I forced out with diaphragmatic breathing got through, because Varen obediently let go of my wrist. I kneaded the throbbing spot and glared with all I had.
"Where do you think you’re showing off your strength? Want to die?"
"...How could you say that."
A dragon took a human idiom at face value. His wounded look made me feel a little sorry, but my wrist throbbed, so I didn’t bother to correct it.
"You dragon brat. Do you have any idea how fragile humans are? Don’t lay hands on us carelessly."
"I understand. I promise. So you keep your promise too."
